Indigenous journalists: Perceptions of mainstream media coverage of indigenous affairs and climate change

Indigenous journalism plays an increasingly important role in modern media. It fulfils important functions such as creating counter-narratives, empowering local communities and acting as watchdog. Representations of Indigenous peoples in traditional media are often stereotyped, lacking in detail, or factually incorrect. To understand the balance in this complex media ecosystem, this study investigated Indigenous journalists' perceptions of traditional media coverage of indigenous stories and Indigenous journalists' relationships with non-Indigenous journalists. Based on 20 in-depth interviews conducted with Indigenous journalists around the world, the study confirms that there is a gap between mainstream and Indigenous media, and that there is generally little trust in mainstream media representations of Indigenous communities. This study is a first brick in a foundation to build greater understanding between mainstream and Indigenous media and to consider possible ways forward.